


Outside Looking In

by horatiofrog



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Adaptational Karma, Clay Jensen (mentioned) - Freeform, Friends to Enemies, Gen, I so want to see this in Season 3, Lainie Jensen (mentioned) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 02:09:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15809181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horatiofrog/pseuds/horatiofrog
Summary: Is there such a thing as karma?  Bryce Walker is about to find out...and from the most unlikely source.





	Outside Looking In

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Destiny Which Makes Us Brothers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782280) by [Bitterblue33](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bitterblue33/pseuds/Bitterblue33). 



> Content note: Elements of this story appear in my oneshot "A Quirk of the Law," particularly dealing with the legal stuff. The story itself takes place in December, well after Bitterblue33's vignette "This Old Road's Got Me Twisted." While I recommend both stories immensely, this one can be read on its own well enough.

It was the last place Bryce expected to see him. 

He himself had gone out of boredom – there was only so many hours one could stay cooped up in the house.  The cheerful music blared out in the public hallway of the plaza, and the strains of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas” were beginning to grate on him.

Casually, he sidled up to the thin, scrawny young man he’d once shared so much with.  “Hey, Justin,” he said, careful not to put a hand on him.  Even in the small, exclusive shop where both stood, it was impossible to tell who might be watching.  Fucking restraining order.  Fucking legal shit.  “Last place I expected to see you.”

The younger boy went stiff.  “Bryce.”  He, too, knew better than to cause a scene.  Bryce smiled inwardly.  There wasn’t much Justin Foley could do right, but whoever had drilled manners into the asshat had done a hell of a job.  It was almost too easy.  “What are you doing here?”

“Eh, I needed to get out of the house.  It’s been pretty boring lately.”  He turned towards his prey.  Justin was standing still as stone.  “Relax, Justin.  It’s not like I can touch you.”

“You have your ways, Bryce.”  Greenish eyes bore down into his blue ones.  “Trust me.  I know.”

“Please.  We’re just catching up.”

“No.  _We’re_ not.”  Justin turned on his heel to leave.

 Well, fuck _that._   “So…what the hell are you doing in a place like this?  I mean, you couldn’t afford to polish the silver on the belt buckles.  Hell, maybe I’ll have to say something on my way out.”  Bryce made a little show of looking at Justin’s pockets.  “Who knows what they might find?”

“The fuck are you _really_ doing here, Bryce?” Justin asked.  Venom dripped from his voice.  “Just trying to start shit?  Oh, that’s right – there’s no one around your place, is there?”  A small, evil smile crossed a diamond-shaped face.  “Where’d they go _this_ time?  Carribbean?  Vail?  Monte Carlo?”

Bryce seethed.  “So what?  Nothing I’m not used to.”

“Justin?”  Bryce picked up a woman’s voice.  It was one he’d heard once before – only once, and it wasn’t one he’d forget soon.  It certainly explained a few things.

“Still staying with Jensen and his family, huh, Justin?  They haven’t figured you out by now?”  Bryce sneered.  “Piece of shit.  At best, you’re white trash dressed up in doll clothes.  I bet Jensen gets his rocks off, seeing you squirm for him…”

“They _adopted_ me, jackass.”  Justin turned to meet his gaze full-on.  Bryce could see his chest rise and fall rapidly.  “Clay’s my _brother._   Not like the ones you have – oh, wait.  Had.”  An eyebrow quirked up on Justin’s face.  “I hear your dance card’s pretty empty these days, both in bed and on the field.”

Rage simmered within the older boy.  How dare this…this _nothing_ smile at his minor setback?  He stepped closer, causing Justin to reciprocate in the opposite direction.  The younger boy was trapped between a glass display case and Bryce himself.  “And whose fault is that?  Hmm?”  A phony, charming smile crossed a rounded face.  “I take it back.  You and Jensen are a match.  He fucks people over, you just fuck up.  I’m amazed you’re even still alive.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Bryce.  A whole _fucking_ lot.”  Rage snapped in Justin’s eyes. 

Bryce smiled.  “Oh, really?  I know you were a fuck-up from the minute you were born, Justin.  At conception, actually.  Why do you think your _real_ mother didn’t want shit to do with you?  That is, unless she needed something…”

It was taking a supreme effort for Justin to maintain his composure.  He took a breath, then two.  “You’d know.  She’s just like you.”

“Dumbass, there is not one thing that crack whore and I have in common.  Well, except knowing you.”  The words came out as easily as if Bryce were talking about the weather or the box scores.  He casually leaned on the glass, forcing Justin to bend backwards a little to avoid contact with him.  The look of revulsion on his enemy’s face was turning him on.

“Really?  Because both of you know how to turn people into puppets for money.”  Justin slid over, putting some distance between himself and Bryce.  “You buy people, Bryce.  I’m not sure you’ve ever cared about _anyone_ in your entire life.”  The younger boy shrugged.  “And really, I can see why.  I mean, your own _parents_ want nothing to do with you.  Never have.”  He took a step towards Bryce.  “Oh, they’ll buy you everything under the sun.  Make your problems go away – or the ones they _can_ , anyway.”  That million dollar smile of Justin’s flashed across his face for a fraction of a second.  Then it turned ugly and dark.  “Remember when you told me you had to register as a sex offender?  At that game, back in September?”

Bryce paled.  “Shut the fuck up, Foley.  Not here.”

“Oh, here’s good.”  Justin’s voice never raised.  Really, Bryce was rather impressed.  Usually the asshat was a blubbering mess by now.  Not this time.  “See, I already knew about that.  My mother – my _real_ mother, the one who took me in and actually _gives a shit_ about me – told me all about that.  And you know the best part, Bryce?”

“What?”  Now Bryce was all ears.

The million dollar smile grew wider and uglier.  It was almost a pasted-on grimace; a caricature of the smile he knew Justin possessed.  He’d always been jealous of that smile.  It seemed to open more doors and get more attention than a dozen barrels of Bryce’s cash.  “ _I_ don’t have that problem.  When I get _my_ record sealed, _I’m_ off free and clear.”

Justin’s words struck as though Bryce had been shot.  His father had argued, lobbied, and damn near _bribed_ the right people to get his name off that goddamn registry.  None of it had worked.  He remembered his lawyer’s words at that last meeting, nearly a month ago:  _Given today’s social climate, it’s not a thing that will change – not in my lifetime, and probably not in yours.  Well done, Bryce.  I’m sorry to say you’ve stained yourself, and this time it’s just not going away._

Bryce wanted to pound Justin.  He wanted to make him pay for ruining his life.  The sight of Jensen’s mother waving at Justin stopped him.

“Oh, and, the reason I was here?” Justin added.  “I’m getting a new suit.  Clay’s just over there, getting fitted for a new jacket.  Then we’re finishing up our Christmas shopping.  For the first time, _I_ get to have a nice Christmas with _my_ family.”  He smirked.  “How about _you_?”

With that, Justin walked away.  Bryce stared at his enemy as he hugged the smiling dishwater-blonde woman he’d come with, and Justin smiled appreciatively at his new brother -- the other reason Bryce was now dateless, nearly friendless and alone.

Son of a bitch, Bryce thought as he made his way out of the store.  How the _hell_ did a nothing piece of shit like Justin Foley end up in a better situation than someone like _him?_

**Author's Note:**

> *I really like the idea of this happening in Season 3. It should be a thing.


End file.
